Previous Farenthold Endowed Lecture Events

The Frances Tarlton “Sissy” Farenthold Endowed Lecture Series in Peace, Social Justice and Human Rights honors Sissy for her relentless pursuit of social justice. Houston’s Rothko Chapel, where Sissy served as chair of the board for many years, hosts the lecture at the Chapel in alternating years.

In line with Sissy’s own history of exposing and responding to injustices and inequality as both a public servant and citizen, the lecture series brings to Austin and Houston internationally renowned scholars, activists and politicians who inspire their audiences to think and act creatively to respond to some of the greatest challenges of the 21st century.

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  1. The ninth annual Frances Tarlton “Sissy” Farenthold Endowed Lecture in Peace, Social Justice and Human Rights will feature Kathryn Bond Stockton, Distinguished Professor of English, former Associate Vice President for Equity and Diversity, and former inaugural Dean of the School for Cultural & Social Transformation at the University of Utah, where she teaches queer theory, theories of race and racialized gender, and twentieth-century literature and film.

  2. Speaker:
    • George A. Weiss University Professor of Law and Sociology and the Raymond Pace and Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander Professor of Civil Rights at the University of Pennsylvania
    The eighth annual Sissy Farenthold Lecture featured acclaimed scholar of race, gender and the law, Dorothy Roberts, on the intersections among reproductive rights, criminalization of pregnancy, and the family policing/separation systems in the aftermath of the June 2022 Dobbs decision. Roberts explored the histories of compelled births in the US dating back to Black women’s reproductive bondage during slavery, and the abolitionist frameworks that call for the dismantling of these targeted, oppressive structures in favor of more compassionate and equitable reproductive rights and family support systems.

  3. Speaker:
    The seventh annual Frances Tarlton “Sissy” Farenthold Endowed Lecture Series in Peace, Social Justice and Human Rights was delivered by author-activist Arundhati Roy.

  4. Speaker:
    • New York Times Op-Ed Columnist, Author of "Fire Shut Up in My Bones"
    The Rothko Chapel and the Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice's 6th annual Frances Tarlton “Sissy” Farenthold Endowed Lecture in Peace, Social Justice and Human Rights featured journalist, author, and political analyst Charles Blow.

  5. Speaker:
    • Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences, American Studies; Director of the Center for Place, Culture, and Politics at The Graduate Center of the City University of New York
    The Rapoport Center and the Rothko Chapel are pleased to announce that Ruth Wilson Gilmore headlined the fifth annual Frances Tarlton “Sissy” Farenthold Endowed Lecture in Peace, Social Justice and Human Rights.

  6. Speaker:
    Puerto Rican attorney and climate justice activist Elizabeth Yeampierre headlined the fourth Frances Tarlton “Sissy” Farenthold Endowed Lecture in Peace, Social Justice and Human Rights, hosted by the Rapoport Center and the Rothko Chapel.

  7. Speaker:
    • National Domestic Workers Alliance, Caring Across Generations
    The Rapoport Center and the Rothko Chapel are pleased to announce that labor organizer, author, and activist Ai-jen Poo will headline the third Frances Tarlton “Sissy” Farenthold Endowed Lecture in Peace, Social Justice and Human Rights.

  8. Speaker:
    The 2nd Annual Sissy Farenthold Endowed Lecture explored the intersection of the arts and human rights, and the need for artists and non-artists alike to engage more fully with the power of artistic expression in the instigation of social change. Darren Walker was in conversation with bestselling author, curator, and professor Sarah Lewis.

  9. Speaker:
    • Chancellor’s Professor of English and Journalism, UC Berkeley and James Clarke Chace Professor of Foreign Affairs and Humanities, Bard College
    The inaugural lecture featured writer and journalist Mark Danner, Chancellor’s Professor of English and Journalism at UC Berkeley and James Clarke Chace Professor of Foreign Affairs and Humanities at Bard College.

Event Types